Asian Champs Preview – Jakarta Bintangs

October 14, 2015

The Jakarta Bintangs Football Club was formed in 1995 with the objective to bring the great game of AFL football to the teeming megalopolis of Jakarta. From a bedraggled beginning to the glamour and sophistication of its 20th year, the Club has gone from strength to strength and played home and away against teams from all over Asia, Australia and the Middle East. 433 players have represented the Bintangs, of varying age groups and nationalities including Indonesians, Papua New Guineans, Mauritians, Americans, Canadians, New Zealanders, British, French and even someone from Wodonga, The Bintangs are even open to the wider animal kingdom, regularly fielding Donkey, Quail and Lyons. The Bintangs have strong connections to the community, from hosting the immensely successful Grand Final function to crowds exceeding 700 guests from all walks of life to employing full time staff on its ongoing outreach programme that brings AFL football to hundreds of Indonesian children and youth. But it’s on the field that counts the most and there is no more testing occasion than the Asian Champs. It is a season’s highlight and every last Bintang looks forward to getting out and amongst it in this great comp.

Coach’s thoughts:

“The Jakarta Bintangs have had another solid year. A couple of fierce matches against Singapore and Malaysia, along with hit-outs against the Indonesian Garuda’s, Macau, Bali, and Hong Kong have been the highlights. We’re pleased to have 4 Indonesian national players qualify for our Asian Champs squad this year, and I’m sure they’ll make their presence felt, both on and off the field.”

Dave ‘Butcher’ Edwards, Jakarta Bintangs Coach.

Captain and Coach profile:

Stewart “better than any player in the Brisbane” Lyons arrived at the majestic Gelora Bung Karno hockey pitch in 2012 and immediately made his mark at the Bintangs. Lyons is poised, durable and committed and rarely do his opponents get near. Carlton supporters are very familiar with sentences (usually 12 years with no possibility of parole) but Stew as captain from 2014 onwards has been able to stir his troops to victory through his words as well as his example on field. In 30 games, White Willie Lyons has provided nothing but blood, sweat, and toil for the club. He has been a loyal Bintang despite numerous offers to join successful Buzkashi teams compromised of Afghan warlords on horseback dragging a goat carcass to a goal 1 kilometer away while punching each other a lot.

In countries that have winter, one method of heat supply is by devices called radiators. Children have found that a Twisties packet placed next to a radiator will shrink to two thirds of its size but retain substantially the same properties. If Barry Hall had undergone the same process, the end result would have been Dave “The Butcher” Edwards. Butcher is from the Latrobe Valley where people are used to being at the top of ladders. For most, it is for the purpose of helping friends and family stage a mass breakout of the Sale Remand Centre, but for Butcher it is for having notched a record 221 cracking goals in his 99 games, including a famous one he kicked while unconscious and flat lining in 2012 in the Asian Masters and 12 pearlers against Bali in 2009. The Hidden Tiger Leaping Dragon of the Bintangs has blown all goalkicking records out of the water.